Shirt unloader and delivery apparatus



J. ROMANSKY 3,464,602

SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 2, 1969Filed June 12, 1968 FlCS. l

INVENTOR JOHN ROMANSKY AGE/VT -p 1969 J. ROMANSKY 3,464,602

SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet2 FIG. 3

INVENTOP JOHN ROMANSKY AGENT rJlullllllllllllllm I l I l I I 4 l l I l I4 SheetsSheet 3 ROM ANSKY By &J0114 l/V VE/VTOR I; Zr

| l i r I JOHN Sepit. 2, 1969 J. ROMANSKY SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERYAPPARATUS Filed June 12, 1968 F IG. 4

AGENT Sept. 2, 1969 J. ROMANSKY SHIRT UNLOADER AND DELIVERY APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 12, 1968 FIG. 6

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INVENTOR JOHN ROMANSKY AGE/VT Unite States 3,464,602 SHIRT UNLOADER ANDDELIVERY APPARATUS John Romansky, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to McGraw-Edison Company, Elgin, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 12,1968, Ser. No. 736,330 Int. Cl. D06c 15/00; D06f 71/00 US. Cl. 223-57 11Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An object of the invention is toprovide a shirt unloader of simple and economical mechanism which has asimple mode of operation to provide a reliable and dependable unloadingservice.

Another object is to provide a turntable timed with the unloader forreceiving shirts from the latter and providing a station giving anoperator or operators a facility and ample time to take the shirtstherefrom for final folding and packaging.

These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description and the appended claims.

In the description of my invention reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings, of which:

FIGURE 1 is a fractional plan view of a four-turret shirt press and ofan unloader and delivery turntable according to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view from the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view taken from the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fractional elevational View from the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1showing to larger scale details of construction of the unloader;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view from the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1showing the pressing station of the four-turret shirt press;

FIGURE 6 is a righthand elevational view of the unloader shown in FIGURE4;

FIGURE 7 is an end view to larger scale of the conveyor arm of theunloader and of the sprocket drive wheel therefor; and

FIGURE 8 is a side view to larger scale with portions broken away of theconveyor arm of the unloader.

The present unloader and the delivery apparatus is in its broaderaspects operable with any shirt pressing device, but is shown inconnection with a four-turret press 10 by way of preferred example. Thispress has a center post 11 upstanding from a suitable base on the floornot shown. Iournalled on this post is a carriage comprising a hub havingfour equally spaced radial bars 12. Mounted on these radial barsconcentric with the center post is an annular platform 13, and mountedon the platform above the outer ends of the respective radial bars arerespective bucks 14 for receiving shirts thereon to be pressed. Thesebucks may be of a construction shown in the pending Stewart applicationSer. No. 618,251, filed Jan. 31, 1967, and need not be herein described.The carriage of the shirt press is indexed by 90 intervals by an aircylinder 15 having a piston rod with a drive pin 16 engageable atentwith a four toothed ratchet 17 on the central hub of the carriage.

With reference to FIGURE 1 the buck at the left side of the pressconstitutes a loading station S where an operator places a shirt on thebuck and dresses the same for a shirt pressing operation. The nextstation S in a direction clockwise from the station S has a shoulderpressing yoke 18 which is timed to engage the shoulder portion of thedressed shirt and press the same. This shoulder press may be of the sameconstruction as is described in the aforementioned pending Stewartapplication and need not be herein described. The next station S is apressing station comprising two pressing chests 19 at opposite sides ofthe buck. These chests are operated by respective air cylinders 20through respective toggle mechanisms 21 (FIGURE 5) to engage the buckand press the body portion of the shirt. Each buck has shirt extendingarms 22 which are retracted after each pressing operation. The bodypressing chests and operating mechanism therefor, as well as the shirtextending arms, are also described in the pending Stewart applicationabovementioned. In the operation of the four turret press the shoulderpress 18 and the body press 19 at stations S and S are operated in timedrelation with the indexing of the carriage 12-13 by any suitable means.The station 8.; located in advance of the pressing station S is wherethe finished shirts are lifted from the buck by the unloader anddelivery apparatus according to my invention.

The unloader 23 comprises a hollow frame or housing 24 upstanding fromthe floor 25. The frame 24 is located at the side of the buck at thestation 5.; between this buck and a turntable 26 at the deliverystation. In the upper part of the frame 24 are side standards 27carrying a cross shaft 28 therebetween secured to the frame againstrotation. Journalled on the central portion of this shaft between thestandards 27 is a hub 29 secured to a hollow conveyor arm 30 and to asprocket wheel 31 (FIGURE 7). The conveyor arm extends from the shaft 28between the standards 27 by the distance of the shaft from the medialplane MM of the buck at the station S Preferably the conveyor arm isrectangular in cross section, as shown. On the shaft 28 within thehollow conveyor arm is a knurled collar 32 secured to the shaft by crosspin 33.

The sprocket wheel 31 is housed in one of the side standards 27 as isshown in FIGURE 6. Trained around this sprocket wheel is a chain belt34. This belt leads downward through the frame 24 and is trained aroundanother sprocket wheel 35 on a shaft 36 journalled in bearings 37secured to opposite side walls of the frame 24. The ends of the chainbelt 34 are secured to opposite ends of a piston rod 38 secured to apiston 39 in an air cylinder 48 mounted on the inside wall of the frame24. The air cylinder has nipple connectors 41 at opposite ends thereofenabling air pressure to be led into the cylinder to drive the piston 39back and forth whereby to swing the conveyor arm 30 between a pickupposition over the buck at the station 8., and an unloading position overthe turntable 26 (FIGURE 2).

Iournalled in the outer end portion of the conveyor arm 30 is a crossbar42 extending laterally across the buck 14 when the conveyor arm is inits pickup position. Secured to this crossbar are two shirt gripperseach comprising a pair of clip members 43 and 44 which are for exampleof a spring material biased into engaged relationship shown in FIGURE 4.The clip members are bowed away from each other through their centralportions and have pads 45 as of felt secured to their lower grippingsurfaces. Interposed between the central bowed portions of the clipmembers is an air cylinder 46 which receives air pressure from a line 47to spread the clip members apart. The air line 47 is led along theconveyor arm to the frame 24 wherein connection is made to a source ofair pressure not shown. Also, connections would be made here from asuitably controlled air pressure source to the cylinder 40.

Within the conveyor arm 30 is a cable 48 trained by several revolutions48a around the collar 32 at the hub end of the conveyor arm and trainedlikewise by several revolutions around a hub 49 on the cross bar 42 atthe outer end of the conveyor arm. The ends of this cable are connectedadjustably to each other through a turnbuckle 50 to set the cable to thedesired tension. The turnbuckle is accessible via a removable side plate51 on the conveyor arm. The coupling of the cross bar 42 to thestationary collar 32 via the cable 48 serves to retain the cross barrotatively stationary as the conveyor arm is swung about the shaft 28with the result that the grippers 4344 are maintained in a dependingrelationship to the cross bar as they are swung between pickup andunloading position.

The turntable 26 comprises a post 52 upstanding from a base 53. On theupper end of this post a carriage 54 is journalled having six equaldistantly spaced radial arms 55. On the outer ends of these arms areshirt hangers 56 of an inverted U-shape as shown in FIGURE 2. Theturntable is positioned so that when the carriage is in an indexedposition one of the arms will stand midway between the shirt grippers43-44 and the respective shirt hanger 56 will be directly below thecrossbar 42 as shown in FIGURE 1. The turntable is indexed by 60intervals by means of an air cylinder 57 cooperable with a ratchet wheel58 at the hub of the turntable.

The shirt grippers 43-44 are spaced along the crossbar 42 to grip theouter end portions of a pressed shirt just extending off from theshoulders of the buck after the extender arms 22 are retracted (FIGURE1). The initial movement of the grippers from their pick-up positions isupwardly because the conveyor arm 30 is then standing in a nearlyhorizontal position (FIGURE 2) causing the shirt to be lifted from thebuck and to be then transported over to the delivery station. As theshirt is so transported the lower hanging portions thereof are sweptacross a curved spreading arm 59 (FIGURE 6) the ends of which are boltedin the inside wall of the frame 24. This spreading arm comes within theopen front of the shirt to spread it apart as indicated in FIGURE 2. Thehangers 56 are relatively narrow so that the shirt will envelop thehanger in the receiving position and will drape down thereover when thegrippers are released as indicated in FIGURE 2.

In the start position of the shirt unloader, the conveyor arm 30 is atthe end of its travel overhanging the delivery station with the clipmembers 4344 engaged and holding a shirt just taken from the buck at theunloading station S The unloader is moved through one cycle while thefour turret press and the turntable 26 are at standstill. The conveyorarm 30 starts its upward swing from the delivery station through a shortdistance before the grippers 43-44 are opened by the air cylinder 46.This allows the shirt to fall by a sufficient distance to fluff openbefore it is caught on the adjacent hanger 56. The grippers 43-44 arecontinued to be held open by the air cylinder 46 until the conveyor arm30 nears its pickup position. At this point a timing switch '60 isoperated to set a timer T which controls the further onward movement ofthe conveyor arm before the clip members 43 and 44 are closed. Thistiming mechanism thus sets the depth of grip of the clip members on theshoulder portions of the shirt. The air cylinder 40 is immediatelyreversed to start the return stroke of the conveyor arm 30, and when theconveyor arm reaches its return position over the delivery station theair pressure is cut off to stop the cycle. The turntable 26 may beindexed in synchronism with the indexing of the four turret press, inwhich case a single shirt will be deposited on each of the hangers 56.On the other hand, the four turret press may be indexed several timesfor each indexing of the turntable in which case a predetermined numberof shirts will be draped one on top of the other on a hanger 56 beforethe turntable is advanced.

I claim:

1. A machine including a vertically mounted pressing device and meansfor unloading shirts and similar garments from said pressing device andtransporting the shirts to a delivery station at the front of saidpressing device comprising a horizontal crossbar supported for overheadswinging movement in an arc about a horizontal axis parallel with thecrossbar from a pickup position over said pressing device to anunloading position at the delivery station, a pair of shirt grippingmeans mounted on said crossbar in depending relation thereto for engaging the upper part of a shirt on said pressing device when said crossbaris in said pickup position, and means for retaining said shirt grippingmeans in said depending relationship to said crossbar as the crossbar isswung between pickup and unloading positions whereby a shirt picked upby said gripping means is lifted from said pressing device andtransported to said delivery station in a single movement.

2. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said shirt grippingmeans comprises a pair of clip members biased into closed position, andan air cylinder carried by said clip members for opening the same.

3. The machine set forth in claim 1 including power means for swingingsaid gripping means through a cycle from said delivery station to saidpressing device and back again, and means for opening said grippingmeans during movement thereof from said delivery station.

4. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said pressing deviceincludes a buck for receiving a shirt thereon to be pressed, pressingchests for engaging the back and front portions of the body of the shirton said buck, sleeve extender arms on said buck for holding the sleevesoutwardly during pressing of the body, and means supporting saidgripping means on said crossbar to engage the outer shoulder portions ofa shirt on said buck after said sleeve extender arms are retracted.

5. Machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said delivery station includes aturntable having a plurality of equal distantly spaced radiallyextending shirt hangers, and means for indexing said turntable to enablea predetermined number of shirts to be draped on said shirt hangers insuccession as said machine is operated.

6. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said pressing devicecomprises a plurality of equal distantly spaced bucks on a rotatablecarriage, means for indexing said carriage to move said buckssuccessively into position for pickup of shirts therefrom by saidgripping means, means for swinging said crossbar from a start positionat said delivery station to said pickup station and back again whilesaid carriage is stationary, and means for indexing said carriage whilesaid crossbar is in said start position.

7. The machine set forth in claim 1 wherein said crossbar has a startposition at said delivery station, including means for opening saidshirt gripping means when said crossbar is moved a predetermineddistance from start position at said delivery station and to reclosesaid gripping means when said crossbar reaches said pickup position.

8. A machine including a pressing buck and means for removing shirts orsimilar articles from said pressing buck and conveying the same to adelivery station, comprising a frame mounted between said buck and saiddelivery station at the side of the buck, a conveyor arm journalled tothe upper end of said frame to swing overhead between a pickup positionover the buck and an unloading position at said delivery station, acrossbar journalled in the outer end of said conveyor arm and extendinglaterally of said buck, a plurality of pairs of shirt gripping clipmembers secured to and depending from said crossbar in position to gripthe outer shoulder portions of a shirt on said buck when the conveyorarm is in said pickup position, and means for rotating said crossbarrelative to said conveyor arm to maintain the crossbar rotativelystationary and said clip members in depending relationship to thecrossbar as the conveyor arm is swung between said pickup and unloadingpositions.

9. The machine set forth in claim 8 wherein said rotating meanscomprises a stationary collar on said frame at the journal axis of saidconveyor arm, and a cable trained around said collar at one end andabout said crossbar at the other end for holding said crossbarrotatively stationary as said conveyor arm is swung between its pickupand unloading positions.

10. The machine set forth in claim 9 including a sprocket wheel securedto said conveyor arm at its journal axis, a second sprocket wheeljournalled to said frame, a chain belt trained around said sprocketwheels, and an air cylinder having a piston rod secured to said chainbelt for driving said conveyor arm between its pickup and unloadingpositions.

11. The machine set forth in claim 8 including a turntable at saiddelivery station having a plurality of radial arms each with a shirthanger thereon, and means for indexing said turntable to bring saidshirt hangers successively into a position below and midway between saidpairs of shirt gripping members when said conveyor arm is at saiddelivery station, each of said shirt hangers having a narrow widthrelative to the spacing between said pairs of gripping members to causea shirt carried frontwise to said delivery station to envelope saidhanger and to drape downwardly thereover when said gripping members arereleased.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,050,220 8/1962 Parris 223-573,080,099 3/1963 Albiez 223-47 3,174,662 3/1965 Kanuegiesser 223-57MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner U.S.Cl. X.R. 2141

